Since its release in 2017, Fire Emblem Heroes has become one of my few regular gaming staples as my free time has fluctuated. Though much has changed in the four years since its launch, its quick pick up and play mechanics, abundance of new monthly content and one of the more generous gatcha games in the market has ensured some longevity and a seemingly permanent place on my phone’s home screen. Having never spent a cent on the in-game microtransactions, I’ve never concerned myself with the game’s player vs player modes, ideal builds or stat “IVs.” For a free-to-play player, there comes an inevitable gap that becomes more apparent once you reach a certain level in ranked modes.

This month, I found myself with some additional free time following some unplanned medical visits. With not much to do in between scheduling appointments and lacking the physical stamina for more intensive work or play sessions at the time, my phone became my destination to fill those spare moments of boredom. As I looked through my barracks (I have about 480 unique Heroes as of this writing) and my surplus of unit manuals with unused skills (I’ve been playing a long time!), I began to think about how to improve my existing teams.

In Fire Emblem Heroes, heroes are able to inherit skills from other heroes provided their weapon and unit type allows it. Want to give your favorite character the signature Aether skill generally reserved for main characters? You can do that! How about a Defense/Resistance seal to become a damage soaking tank? If their class allows it, go for it! Or maybe you want an offensive mage that can one shot foes and retaliate against enemies that get in close? If you can dream it, you can probably build it! For most players, the time and resource management to create a custom character is generally unfavorable versus using the summoning banners to pull the latest heroes, at least without some investment on the player’s end (read: money!). After all, why invest in a weaker unit when you can have the newest Legendary Hero with special skills and stats right from the start?

Outside of competitive circles, there is a certain appeal to having your own unique version of a favorite character, but even within ranked modes, there is nothing quite like ruining someone’s day because you didn’t realize one of them inherited Galeforce and they are using a goddamn dancer as well! But where it gets really crazy is when you add Forma Souls into the equation.

In 2019, the Hall of Forms mode was added to the list of regular rotating events. For those unfamiliar, players are given four predetermined units exclusive to this mode. The player’s task is to clear a number of maps with your team and acquire new skills as you progress. Unlike a traditional summoned hero, a forma soul starts off with just a standard weapon and inherits new skills upon defeating the first enemy in a map. The twist is the player is given a randomly selected list of skills for each slot to choose from once, provided the unit is able to naturally inherit it to begin with. Though the skill list is randomized after each win, a forma soul can continue to reroll skills as long as the player has the in-game currency to play another round (you get 3 daily during the event, plus extras as rewards for completing certain maps).

In effect, this allows you to create a unit with skills that would be extremely rare to do in the main game without heavy investment or an insane amount of luck. Normally, these units are treated as their own separate characters even if you already own them, but this year introduced the ability to purchase your Forma Units after the event closes. While the in-game currency required to summon a Forma Unit is very much geared towards pay to win players (it cannot be earned in game), everyone was gifted a Forma Soul for their first free unit. Up until now, I held onto it as most the cycled units were characters I already owned. Initially, I thought I’d save it for a seasonal hero typically not available for regular summons (hello Summer Ursula!), the random nature of Hall of Forms also means it’s entirely possible to end up with a unit with less than ideal skills or have them fall back to their original kit.

That all changed this month when the next Hall of Forms event started featured a character I’ve yet to acquire:

Fire Emblem Heroes is known for pulling characters from various corners of the franchise or reimagining in alternate forms, yet it sometimes draws influence from the most unexpected places. Though this franchise has had its fair share of characters who at one point in time fell to darkness, an evil version of Ike was not initially among them. In case you’re scratching your head over this, this Ike came to being in the lesser known trading card game, Fire Emblem Cipher. Like Heroes, it is a spin off crossover title mixing characters from all over the franchise, including a few new ones and variants.

Unsurprisingly, it even features characters from Heroes, so it seemed inevitable that the mobile game would return the favor at some point. In Cipher’s alternate take on the character, this version of Ike befell the same fate as his father Greil once did before him after touching Lehran’s Medallion. While his dark incarnation shares similar abilities to his radiant counterpart in Heroes, Fallen Ike comes with some significant changes, noticeably his unique Chaos Ragnell weapon and Mayhem Aether special.

Though his speed and original A, B, and C skills already put him in a favorable position to his other sword peers, it dawned upon me that I could further enhance his innate abilities and negate some of his weaknesses. At level 10 with only a Silver Sword, I was immediately offered Ruptured Sky, Byleth’s unique special with light 2 charge cooldown that deals bonus damage to Beasts and Dragons. As I played, I kept the Silver Sword while I played around with the other skills and give my other Forma Units the chance to level up to keep up with the increasing difficulty.

“Def/Ref Ideal 4, this could be useful. Atk/Spd Menace, might be fun!” By the time I got to the level 40 cap and cleared all the maps, I still hadn’t fully optimized his toolkit. Eventually, I took the search online referencing a few handy guides, a video on the subject, and at least one or two forums.

With a few more quick runs and a bit of luck, I arrived at the following setup:

• Chaos Ragnell: As one of the few weapons with a built in distant counter, there really wasn’t much competition! Basically Ragnell with the added bonus of penalty conversion.
• Atk/Spd Up+: I avoided positional assists as much as possible prioritizing rarity, but this one seemed ideal given Ike’s inherit strengths by allowing him to buff an ally in those areas.
• Ruptured Sky: While Mayhem Aether is nice as a recovery option, on single maps I find having a consistent damage dealer with a quick cooldown to be more practical. As this is one of the harder ones to obtain (short of summoning another Byleth by chance!), it’s a nice secondary option to have.
• Atk/Res Unity: The nice thing about Hall of Forms is new skills are added after they debut. This is one of the newer skills introduced this year that grants a buff provided the unit is at least within two spaces of another ally with the added bonus of converting penalties to those stats.
• Spurn 3: It took me a while to get a desirable B skill, but this one eventually came up in my later runs. It reduces damage based on the unit’s speed and deals a bit of extra damage.
• Joint Drive Res: I’m still debating this one (leaning towards one of the Menace skills), but the idea was to counteract Ike’s poor magic resistance.

When it comes to Fire Emblem, uncertainty is par for the course for this franchise. A bad decision or read here and there can have consequences down the road. Though its mobile counterpart is a much more casual affair than its console brethren, the element of uncertainty remains consistent the longer I stay with the game. With the Meta constantly shifting towards new heroes and the game itself undergoing seasonal changes on a regular basis, it can be daunting to keep up for people who play more than one mobile game.

This October has been an interesting month for me, despite almost all of my initial writing plans falling through. As I jumped through appointments and dealt with the ever-growing uncertainty of what was physically ailing me while taking two weeks to see if this prescription did anything for me, this month was full of surprises. Before my emergency trip, Metroid Dread exceeded my expectations, delivering one of the finest pieces of entertainment of the year. On the evenings that I couldn’t write due to my physical stamina, I watched horror movies. In the two weeks I’ve been taking this prescription hoping to get back to some level of normal, I took some time off from my other obligations. And despite not being sure if the underlying cause was actually resolved or not (I still feel the symptoms), I felt comfortable enough to attend four different Fall outings even though my initial dosage had already completed its course, with a fifth already completed by the time this post goes up.

Despite being the smallest event in terms of everything that occurred this month, this simple exercise taught me a few things. While I still don’t know for sure if I will need a checkup in the near future, I feel really good right now. The way I see it, if I was healthy enough to write up a goddamn shitpost about Sora being in Smash, I’ll probably be okay. Rather than be worried about what tomorrow will bring, I’d rather prioritize what’s in front of me, whether it’s taking a small life detour or providing you with the finest of random thoughts that my writing hand has to offer.

Or maybe, I’ll just focus on having fun, one chaotic day at a time. Whether its work or play, I may not always win, but I’ll certainly take the more interesting path offered.

After all, it did get me a resistance tank evil Ike with Ruptured Sky, so there’s that to look forward to!

Have a happy Halloween everyone!

Dark Aether is a writer/contributor for TAY and AniTAY. You can check his previous writings on TAY2, Medium, or follow him on Twitter @TheGrimAether. Not Dead Yet.